lol.. I know we are missing like 4 first choice players but could we really be any worse?

Still think Badri would have gone a lot better against guys like Mendis than Raina

We miss you, Fardin. :(. RIP.

Originally Posted by vic_orthdox

In the end, I think it's so utterly, incomprehensibly boring. There is so much context behind each innings of cricket that dissecting statistics into these small samples is just worthless. No-one has ever been faced with the same situation in which they come out to bat as someone else. Ever.

You have to feel for Amit Mishra, missing at least his fourth Test cap inexplicably. He's sweated it out for over eight years, got loads of first-class wickets, learnt a lot on tours with India A, has led his state team, is decent on the field and also with the bat, impresses in his debut Test series, and what happens? A year later, after the Motera motorway disappointment, is reduced to a second-choice spinner in home Tests. He too, like Murali Kartik, Ramesh Powar and Piyush Chawla, will wonder what it takes to impress the selectors, coach and captain. They've got everything on their side, except (possibly) youth.

"Talent is nothing without opportunity"
"You're not remembered for aiming at the target, but hitting it"

I hope when Sri Lanka bowl they prove this is not a road, otherwise Test cricket is so crap on pitches like this. On the other side of the world we have a recently completed Test series that was tight, exciting, featured skill with both bat and ball and was close due to the wickets prepared. Compare England to this, terrible. No wonder everyone is flocking to Twenty20.

I hope when Sri Lanka bowl they prove this is not a road, otherwise Test cricket is so crap on pitches like this. On the other side of the world we have a recently completed Test series that was tight, exciting, featured skill with both bat and ball and was close due to the wickets prepared. Compare England to this, terrible. No wonder everyone is flocking to Twenty20.

Time for Sharma to take a break from Test cricket for awhile?

I actually thought the two pitches - Lords especially, actually - prepared in England were very flat. The reason for all the movement was the atmospheric conditions.

I actually thought the two pitches - Lords especially, actually - prepared in England were very flat. The reason for all the movement was the atmospheric conditions.

I actually thought about my post as soon as I clicked the 'submit reply' button. You are correct. Well maybe a compromise, flat pitches are perfectly fine in areas known for sideways movement in the air. Flat pitches are not fine in the sub-continent.

I actually thought about my post as soon as I clicked the 'submit reply' button. You are correct. Well maybe a compromise, flat pitches are perfectly fine in areas known for sideways movement in the air. Flat pitches are not fine in the sub-continent.

Relax, it is the monsoon season in these parts. We should get a bit of cloud cover every now and then and the pace bowlers will get assistance in patches, like what happened in the 3rd day of the first test.

Relax, it is the monsoon season in these parts. We should get a bit of cloud cover every now and then and the pace bowlers will get assistance in patches, like what happened in the 3rd day of the first test.

Sorry, I guess coming home from work hoping to watch a close Test match and find the scores at 1/250 slightly annoying.

Maybe because it is not being televised in a UK channel that I have access to, but I'm not too upset about the horrendous failure of our bowling attack, because it teaches us; that Ishant Sharma needs to depart from the Test scene until he can find some accuracy or just the yard of pace that he once had, although his pace now is better than previously and that Mithun just seems like an 80mph seam bowler, which is weird as he was touted for his pace and his pace was seen as the reason that he was superior to Kulkarni and Vinay Kumar, who operate at a similar speed.

After such a fruitful A team tour in terms of runs, it is baffling to see Suresh Raina, who is inconsistent in FC cricket, picked ahead of guys who average 50 to 60 runs.

The speed at which a fielding team gets through the innings is overrated.